


"The Why Files" part 3

by Besidemyself



Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: 4th wall, A bit of drama, As for Tina choose your favorite, But it's there, Canon Continuation, Drama, Extended Universe, F/M, Fanfiction, Friend Fiction, Gen, Humor, Meta, Multiverse Theory, Mystery, Parallel Universe, The shipping is really subtle, Tropes, Writing, for something this meta it's also shallow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Besidemyself/pseuds/Besidemyself
Summary: Strange things are happening at Wagstaff School. In this weeks installment Louise and Rudy are on the case of the vanishing egg salad sandwiches.(A continuation of "The Why Files" part 1 and 2 from the Bob's Burgers Comics)
Relationships: Louise Belcher & Rudolph "Regular Sized Rudy" Steiblitz, Louise Belcher & Tina Belcher, Louise Belcher/Rudolph "Regular Sized Rudy" Steiblitz
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. Recap

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the comic "The Why files" in which Tina is writing an X-file "Friend Fiction" about Louise and Regular Sized Rudy. If you have the chance to read the issues, 8 and 9 from the 2015 comic of Bob’s Burgers, do that.  
> If not,...  
> Chapter one is a recap of part one and two.  
> Chapter two is part three of the friend-fiction  
> Chapter three is an epilog.
> 
> Comic originally written by Rachel Hastings and Mark von der Heide. Thanks for the inspiration! In case you'll ever see this and if the ending really was because you had no idea how to finish the story... same hat but here we go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _kursiv_ are literal quotes from the comic.

The comic starts with Mr. Frond assigning Regular Sized Rudy to "The Why Files" the _"top secret program investigating unexplained phenomena in the school"_ (that Rudy knows nothing about).

Mr Frond (the head of the program) asks Rudy to keep an eye on Louise because she had gone - as the expert calls it - coo coo. Rudy - who is a science nerd (something I haven't been aware of until recently) - is supposed to keep Frond updated.

On this very first page we also see the shadow figure in the corner for the first time. Considering that Frond asks this person for their opinion shows that they are the real head of the program. 

Rudy meets Louise in her secret office where she has all her files and a pinwall with clues.

If it wasn‘t clear already that this is basically The X-Files, with Louise as Moulder and Rudy as Scully, it now will be as the former even shouts _"The truth is out there."_

Anyway every second day (since three days ago) an egg salad sandwich disappeared right from the hands of a kid at exactly 11:57 and reappeared a bit later on top of the slide in the schoolground, a strange symbol burned into it. Which is strange because _"... nobody likes egg salad."_ as Rudy remarks. 

Louise is certain that the reason for this is ALIENS, while Rudy thinks that there are a million other explanations. Anyway, Louise suspects that tomorrow at 11:57 another sandwich will vanish. 

Right then we learn that the story is not told by Louise but by Tina who is writing a friend fiction about her sister or with her sister as the protagonist, being inspired by Louise's segment in the comic books "Louise's unsolved mysteries and courios couriosities".   
She is fine with it as long as it’s not mushy or romantic because ew. But it won’t since it’s about Aliens but also… _Louise's passion and Rudys analytical mind?_ But no! No, no! No romance in alien stories, I guess?

Back to the story, we learn that indeed another sandwich vanished and reappeared at the slide, with a symbol burned into it, but this time covered with goop! 

Louise asks Rudy – the science guy – to analyse the goop, while Rudy suggests to ask the teachers because he is not allowed to use any of the utensils in the lab.   
Later (after her math class - which Rudy thinks is fun) Louise asks what Rudy found out… well the answer is nothing because he gave the sample to Mr. Frond.   
Louise explodes, they shout at each other and then… _"they looked into each other's eyes. There was a conflict there… but there was something else too… something neither of them wanted to admit to…"_

And the real Louise (who is reading over Tina's shoulder while she writes) interferes. 

These three panels are great because we learn that Tina uses a lot of direct speech in her story… which makes sense. It's a comic after all. But also it fits Tinas style. Also Gene describes the characters of Rudy and Louise as _"(...) your seething drive and Rudy’s raw animal magnetism. Sparks are gonna fly."_ to which Tina adds _"In a world of mystery, danger and mutual respect, emotions run wild - friends become… more than friends."_   
Louise calls it _"Sick!"_   
  
Understandable so, RPF and RPS are creepy. But yeah Tina is on the Roudise/Louwheeze ship, probably as the captain. 

Back to the story: Louise and Rudy return to Mr. Frond to ask about the goop, Rudy 100% certain that trusting Mr. Frond is the right thing to do. After all he is head of the Why Files program and they all have the same goal, right? Wrong. Frond says that he had never received the sandwich or the goop and ignores the kids. 

Rudy is disillusioned and that concludes **part one** because Tina's hand is cramping… and boy do I know that feeling from back in the day when I was still writing cringey fanfiction in notebooks. Now I write cringey fanfiction on my laptop. Less crampy. Still cringey. Highly amusing.

So, onto **part two** where Rudy is shown once more to have lost faith in Mr. Frond but now he is determined to solve this case. The next day they are called into his office. Frond gives them another case that - surprisingly - Louise is willing to take without much discussion. But it’s a ruse! She just wants Frond to think they are taking the new case so they can continue with the old one unbothered. 

Again Louise asks Rudy to find out what that goop is which is kind of exciting for Rudy, as he explains " _Oh wow. My character is going to have to overcome a fear of getting in trouble and sneak in and use the science lab"_

Yeah, changing the perspective and making Rudy self-aware is a little blunder that is immediately pointed out by Louise and Gene. But Tina is writing while her siblings are watching and reading out loud the written, so mistakes are bound to happen. To be as open about this stuff as Tina... 

Back in the story, Rudy is now telling Louise that he is afraid but he wants to become braver for her (Tina your shipping is showing once more) and they decide to meet at 11:55 at the playground to get the sandwich as soon as it appears.   
They find it on the slide at the exact time and Rudy puts it in his backpack… BUT! They are confronted by Mr. Frond and Rudy gives him the goopy sandwich. 

Louise asks what that is about and how Rudy could give up the evidence!? But Rudy had asked his mom to make him a vegan egg salad-sandwich (I guess Rudy is allergic to eggs?) and that he did a switcharoo and that Frond has now the wrong one.   
Now this time Louise is amazed about how smart that was _"I’m so happy I could - "_ and their faces near each other and… 

Real Louise interferes, pointing out that adding romance to the story will take away from it. But it’s - as Tina points out - called EROTIC friend fiction not NOT-erotic friend fiction. 

Anyway, time to find out what the goop is about even though it’s not 100% clear if Rudy is fit to be the science guy.

But in the lab Rudy, more in his element after all, finds out that the goop is actually _"not from this world"_. Louise figures it’s extraterrestrial.

They aren’t sure what to do next but consider to show it the shadowy figure in the corner of Mr. Fronds office… where we switch to, seeing Frond finding out that the sandwich Rudy gave him was with vegan egg salad. 

He gets mocked by the shadow-figure who steps out of the dark and into the light and it’s…   
*dun dun duuun* TINA!   
She has to leave the office because she has a P.E. class. But before she finally leaves she reveals that she is the only one knowing what is going on because she is the author. 

**End of recap**

—

> _"Do you know the truth, Tina? What’s really going on?"_ , Mr. Frond asked. 
> 
> With a cool aura and almost like she was scolding a stupid kid Tina answered: _"Of course I do, Mr. Frond, I’m writing this story."_

" _Wow. Meta,_ " Gene sounded impressed.

" _Cool reveal, Tina!_ " Louise agreed.

" _Thanks,_ " the oldest sibling had really looked forward to the reactions of the other two. It hadn't been easy.

" _You kinda made it about you in the end there…,_ " a bit of disappointment could be heard. Louise apparently had really liked the idea of her being the protagonist. 

" _Well, it is my erotic friend fiction,_ " Tina shrugged, glancing at her little sister.

" _You broke the fourth wall or whatever they call that,_ " Louise was still not over that reveal it seemed. 

" _Yeah,_ " Tina nodded.

" _You know what?_ "  
Both Tina and Gene waited for Louise's final judgement.

" _I liked it!_ "

Now it was Tina's turn to be surprised: " _You did?_ "

" _Tell me when you write the next chapter,_ " Louise tried not to sound too interested. 

Another surprise: " _The next what?_ "

" _The next chapter!_ "

Uh, this might be a problem. " _Oh, that was it. A two-parter. It’s done._ "

" _WHAT?!_ "

 **THE END**  
(of the comic that is… now we start the fanfiction!)


	2. The fanfiction turned friendfiction

It hadn’t been easy for Tina to calm her little sister down but after some more shouting and threatening of slaps, Louise had finally understood that the story was finished. There wasn’t supposed to be a reveal. It was a good point to end… and it had nothing to do with the fact that Tina herself had no clue what was going on, no matter how cool she had appeared at the end of the story. 

It had been such a good idea to start with but really, what _was_ going on? The story was finished but Tina was still pondering about it when she laid down in her bed, lights out, waiting for that sweet, sweet sleep to bring her dreams of Zombie-Boyfriends.   
But her mind wouldn’t rest. It was going on and on and on about what, how and why the egg salad-sandwiches were vanishing, reappearing and marked. 

Once more she closed her eyes, trying to calm down… but then the muse hit her. Immediately she sat up. A look at the clock showed 00:30. Way too late! But she needed to get this on paper! At least it was a Friday night so.... no school tomorrow. Only work.   
Let’s do this! 

#### Part 3

"Okay, Rudy. We are doing this! We are going to ask the mysterious stranger in the shadows what they know. They obviously are the brain behind... all this," Louise had started to pace in the science lab, while Rudy cleaned everything. "Even though I don’t like the idea," because she had a bad feeling about it. But it was the only lead they had.

"But not now. We have classes in the next period."

"I know Rudes! Ugh! Being a schoolkid is so annoying."

"Yeah, well. Nothing to do about that…," his voice had started to become hoars turning into that well known breathlessness that always got Louise worried until she saw and heard him take a whiff from his inhaler. 

They were only partners for four days but they had been friends for longer and she already felt protective towards him…  
She shook her head disgusted by her own mushy thoughts. Instead she focused back on business. "Yeah, okay. Let‘s meet after school in my secret bureau. From there we will go to Mr. Frond and ask him about the mysterious shadow." 

"All right," the 'scientist‘ had packed up all his notes and the rest of the egg salad sandwich with goop. "Good thing I don‘t have band practice today."

—

Rudy had really tried to have another look at the goop-formula, had really tried his best to figure out what it was. But his conscience had forced him to pay attention to the teacher. So he had no new information for Louise. Which was a bit disappointing. Even though they had already decided to ask the dark figure in the corner. But it still bothered him. There had to be another way to show that he was cut out for being part of this team, to be the science guy.

When after class Rudy closed his locker he gasped. He hadn’t expected to see someone standing behind it.

"So, I heard you’re a guy who dabbles into science?"

Rudy looked up at the student body president, still trying to bring his breathing under control: "Oh, you startled me. You’re Henry Haber, right? Your brother is in my class."

"Right. So... science. We are starting a club. Do you want in?"

Another loud gasp could be heard. Well, relatively loud it ended in a wheeze and a shot from his inhaler before Rudy answered: "Sure...!" 

"Okay, then I’ll see you after class then," and with that Henry gave him a flyer with the information needed, and then left. 

"Wow. A science club!" that should prove that he was indeed the science guy for the team. Maybe they could even help him decipher the goop. 

—

Later Louise was in her office, going through her notes once more looking up at the board. There had to be more!! Something she had overlooked something obvious.

Something like the note that was pushed under the door and came to a stop right beside her feet. 

As fast as the small girl could, Louise ran to the door and threw it open to be greeted by an empty corridor.  
  
What did that remind her of? She couldn‘t think like this! Not with that nagging feeling of worry that was keeping her from forming one normal thought…

"Damn it!" the frustration finally broke before it turned into a sigh, full of worry. "Where is Rudy?" She walked back in and picked up the neatly folded paper to read the note. 

  
"We got your partner. Please stop with your investigation. Thank you."  


"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!"

They had Rudy? THEY HAD RUDY!! Great! GREAT!! Well that explained why he wasn’t here. 

With a growl she crumpled the note and threw it at the wall, started to pace and to mutter to herself: "Oh, you want me to stop? You try to keep me from getting to the bottom of this? You think you can blackmail me? Oh no. Nonono!"

For a moment she stopped, thinking hard if she should consult someone else? A backup? 

But Gene was sick at home, she would only ask Millie as a very, very, very last resort and Jessica was working on another mysterious monster sighting… the twins weren’t available either… and Tina… Louise's eyes grew wide when a thought crossed her mind.

"Wait a second!"

She raced to the corner where she had thrown the paper to and once more looked at the message.

"SONOFABITCH! Gah!" 

It was Tina's handwriting. Her ~~weird~~ beautiful cursive writing that she had used to fill so many notebooks and diaries with. Her own sister! How dared she?!  
  
Louise then flipped the paper over.

  
"Science club. Meeting in the boiler room."  


A mischievous grin spread on Louise's face: "That was your third mistake, T."

For a moment she halted because she almost expected someone to ask what the first and second were but there was no one there. It still didn‘t feel right, so she asked helself, in a higher pitched voice: "What do you mean, third mistake?" - "Thank you for asking paper. Well, the first was kidnapping Rudy, the second writing the note! Let‘s go!"

At the last moment Louise grabbed a couple of rubber bands. Better safe than sorry.

—

The school was almost empty, it was way after school hours after all, once Louise had to avoid Mr. Branca but she had managed to sneak down to the boiler room. Standing in front of the door she took a deep breath and finally rushed through it.

"Everyone hands up and freeze! No one moves! What the…"

Louise saw a gigantic machine at the very same place where once the stage for Genes guerilla-musical stood. Darryl, Henry and even Rudy were working on it while Jimmy Jr. stirred a giant bowl that content looked and smelled weirdly like egg salad with a huge pile of sandwich bread beside it.

They all looked up when they heard Louise's question.

"Louise?" Rudy was the first to react.

"Rudy! Are you oka…," before she could finish her sentence she felt two hands grab her under her arms and lift her up without much hassle.

"Got ‘cha!"

"Zeke! Let me go!" She started to struggle.

"Wait… what is going on here?" Now Rudy stood up and glancing around, a bit irritated.

"IT’S THEM!" Louise shouted, trying to free herself from the hold she was in. "THEY ARE BEHIND THE EGG SALAD SANDWICH THIEVERY REAPPEARANCE MYSTERIE!"

"W… What?" Again Rudy looked around confused, hoping to find the answer in one of the faces but they all seemed very neutral towards whatever was happening.

Suddenly a slow clapping could be heard, the figure causing the noise stepped from the shadows into the light.

"Oh really? A slow clap?" was muttered by Louise while Rudy gasped kinda loud: "Tina?"

"I knew it!" Again Louise tried to struggle against Zeke's grip who had no problem at all to keep her restrained but had to avoid her kicks.

"Put her down, Zeke. But be careful to not let go of her. How did you find out?" Tinas voice cut through the silence in the room. 

"I recognized your handwriting," Louise showed a smug smile while still trying to get out of Zeke's grip, who didn‘t let go and scolded her with an "ah ah ah!"

"Oh yeah… right," there was no need for Tina to make clear that she wanted Louise to find it and to come here. For reasons yet to be revealed.

"Well, since you are already here, be our guest," Tina nodded and Jimmy Jr. walked up to Rudy, to bring him towards Louise and Zeke. They tied the two The-Why-Files Agents back to back. Meanwhile Tina kept an aloof appearance, not forgetting her role in this whole mess: "Do you want something to drink? Or maybe an egg salad sandwich? It‘s quite delicious."

"I made it!" Zeke added, while finishing knotting the rope. "Jay-Ju helped!"

"I did!" Jimmy Jr. agreed, leaning forward to tug on the rope once more, showing a glorious sight of his butt for Tina.

"I‘m allergic," Rudy wheezed.

"Gotcha! Tell us when you need your inhaler, buddy," Zeke patted the younger boys head.

As soon as the older boys stepped away Louise started her struggle to get free again: "Let us go! Tina why are you doing this?!"

"I have reasons," she shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back looking unusually collected.

"That is not like you Tina! You‘re the good kid! If anyone is an evil mastermind it should be me!"

"That is too obvious. I made you the hero, even gave you a sidekick. Me being the figure in the shadow established my involvement and if it‘s me trying to hinder you guys to find the bigger plot then I have to be the enemy. It‘s simple story telling, Louise."

"Why do they help you?" The younger girl nodded towards the boys who had returned to their work. Two working on the machine and two making sandwiches.

"Because I control them. I’m the author."

"Do you still like-like them?" Louise couldn‘t help but see a pattern here.

That was a question Tina had not anticipatee: "No. I don't know. Maybe. No! I mean I do like Jimmy Jr… I only thought I liked Darryl, I never like-liked Henry and Zeke is Zeke. Nothing against you guys." The last part was directed at the boys working in the background.

"None taken," Darryl answered, working on the machine.

"Actually, I help her for science? This project will be good for the curriculum vitae," Henry looked up from the laptop he had been typing into.

"Yeah, that is a good reason too. Also we‘re kinda friends with Tina," Darryl shrugged.

"We are also friends, Darryl!" Louise shouted. 

"Yeeah but Tina is the author and she needed henchmen sooo…," this time he looked at Louise with that pity that was typical for him when he explained something obvious, making everyone around him feel stupid.

Louise groaned while Tina smirked at her younger sister: "Obviously these two help me with the plot while Zeke and Jimmy Jr. are the muscle and the butt of the plan. Also again the egg salad Zeke makes is really good. You should really try it, Louise."

"Maybe next time when you hold me prisoner!"

"Maybe," with that Tina turned back and walked away from the younger kids, giving them a moment to whisper among themselves.

"Rudy, are you okay?"

"Yeah… just surprised," the boy really seemed to only slowly grasp the whole situation they were in.

They stayed silent for a moment, Louise was glad to hear that her partner was okay overall but then exploded again - as much as that was possible while whispering: "I was really worried you know?! I was waiting for you!"

"Yeah, I‘m sorry. I got distracted."

"Oh, really? I would have never guessed!" she sighed. "I‘m just glad you‘re okay."

"I won‘t do it again."

"Good. Do you know what they are building?"

He shook his head: "A machine that should help to travel. I don‘t know much more."

"Travel to where? Is it aliens after all?"

Rudy thought about it but then shook his head once more: "I don‘t think so. The technology I saw seemed human."

"But you said the goop is not from this world."

"Yeah… i don‘t get it either."

Louise did her best to figure this out, to think of a solution and to find a way out to highten their chances to flee… she perked up when she saw both Darryl and Henry walk up to Tina: "Bad news. If we go through with the plan we might lose the Wonder Wharf."

"What? How?" Tina stared at Darryl.

Henry turned the laptop to show Tina something: "We need an anchor that exists in every Dimension to keep them together after the door opens. We could use the school but we are in it and the anchor will probably be destroyed. And I suggest the Wharf because it’s under construction right now and at this time of day the workers are normally already on the way home, so there shouldn’t be any collateral."

"I see..," suddenly Tina's eyes turned hard. "Do it then."

The two boys nodded and returned to work.

What?! Dimensional Travel? Louise tried to remember what exactly that meant and then something clicked. _"Not of this world."_ Damn it! She had it all wrong! But also what was wrong with Tina?!!

"Tina, no! You've gone crazy! You are willing to sacrifice the Wonder Wharf!? THE WHARF?! And for what?!" Louise still couldn’t really believe it had been her big sister all along. After all the adventures they have had. All the times they had been… siblings. All the times they had jumped off the edge of certain death, TOGETHER! Was this person really still her sister?!

"For what?! You really ask for what?" Tina looked down at the two kids who had tried their best to stop her (which wasn’t that much before they got caught). "Do you really think I’ll reveal more of my big plan so you can try to talk me out of it?!" 

Louise and Rudy shared a quick glance. He did not believe that Tina would fall for that. She was too smart. But Louise knew her sister better: "Sure. Tell me the story of why! Why you are willing to lose something so important to you like the Wharf!"

"Okay."

Rudy gasped, Louise smirked and Tina started to pace and talk: "There are uncountable parallel universes. Sometimes the differences are small, like I wear my barrette on the other side, your bunny ears are blue… some are a bit bigger, Rudy not having asthma or allergies…"

"Woah…," the boy sounded intrigued by that idea.

"Blue Bunny Ears? Who would even think about that?! Sick!" Louise sounded honestly disgusted.

"Rudy! How about you join me? You can prove that you‘re a scientist and discover infinite possibilities with us!"

"That is a lot…"

"Yes! Unimaginable many!"

"How would you even know about that?!" Louise really barely recognized her sister.

"I explained that to her," Henry looked rather self-pleased, staring over at them while he answered. "And I stand with my point that it‘s safer than communication with Aliens."

"And I still don‘t agree with that but for one we have the technology and for the other not," Tina answered, already dreading the upcoming debate.

"Well, actually…"

"Not now Darryl!" 

Tina did not let herself get distracted.

"Rudy," Tina turned to the boy again. "There has to be at least one world in which you are not asthmatic. Don‘t you want to see that world? Imagine, Rudy," she let her arms fall open in an inviting gesture, while Rudy furrowed his brows. "A world in which you can run. A world in which you eat chocolate without getting a rash. A world where your parents aren‘t divorced."

"I don't want to steal other Rudys life!" Rudy's voice sounded strict and it made Louise grin a bit.

"I understand… but what if it‘s medicine? And what if it is also working on you?"

"Oh my god," his eyes widened.

"Don‘t let her get to you, Rudy!" Louise struggled against the rope again. "And what is your gain Tina? I still don‘t understand what is so important that you‘re willing to destroy the Wharf!"

"Well," Tina explained, "In at least one dimension, Jimmy Jr. and I are a couple. And if I find that universe, I will have the proof and Jimmy Jr. will be mine here too." 

Louise was confused: "What?! All of this for a boy!?"   
A boy that was standing only a few feet away, watching the scene.

With a dramatic twirl Tina stared back at her little sister. The frustration in the oldest Belcher sibling's voice was apparent: "Not just for any boy! For Jimmy Jr.! You just don’t get it, Louise! You’ll never get it! You never even like-liked a boy! You don’t know what it means!" And again Tina paced, but turned back to her henchmen: "How far are we in?"

"We‘re ready," Henry answered with a glance at the laptop. "Now it‘s up to the jocks."

"We‘re ready too!" Zeke and Jimmy Jr. seemed to finish up the last few sandwiches.

"Then let‘s do this!" Once more Tina moved to the two kids. "Last chance to join me. This time I‘m asking you too, Louise. We‘ll ask Gene later. When he isn't sick anymore."

This couldn’t happen. Louise could not let her sister become a mad-evil-something. THAT WAS ULTIMATELY HER JOB! But also she cared for her sister and Tina was the good one. She should not have to face the consequences! Louise had to do something… had to stop her!

"You know it‘s not true Tina! You know that is not true!"

"What do you mean?" Tina now stood in front of the machine watching her henchman feeding it with with its second energy source, the egg salad sandwiches.

"That I would never understand you. You know that is not the case!"

"What do you mean?" Tina sounded neutral almost as if she exactly knew what Louise meant.

"Do I really have to say it out loud?! In front of all these people?" 

Now Tina turned again, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth: "Yes."

"SonOfABitch!" The youngest Belcher took a deep breath… this would be very embarrassing. She would get back at Tina for this. Slap her square on the face, as soon as she got free… she could feel all eyes on her, most strongly Rudy's who strained to turn even a little bit more. She avoided looking at him completely. 

"You know I have a crush on Boo Boo and his stupid beautiful face! You had been there! At the concert," she could hear a soft ‘oh’ behind her but couldn't be bothered about that yet. "So don’t claim I don’t understand you! But you don’t see me building a doomsday-machine either!" ( Not yet) "Just so I can slap that idiot again!? No! If I have to slap him again I’ll do it in this dimension!!" Louise shouted it, while her face burned up but stopping Tina was more important than her embarrassment. 

This time Tina did not only turn but knelt down so she could look Louise in the eyes: "But what if you could slap him again and again, because he is your boyfriend? There might be a dimension where that is reality."

"I would still not destroy the Wonder Wharf for that." (The school maybe but not while being in it.) 

"There is no going back now!" The teens voice sounded hard, while she stared into her little sisters eyes.

"Actually there is? The device still needs to boot up," Derryl piped in, glancing at the monitor of thee laptop. 

"Oh okay," Tina stood up being her awkward self for just a moment but came back to her role again. "No wait! Shut up Darryl! We still do it." She walked back up towards the machine to see it booting up.

"T minus 5 minutes," the calm voice of Henry announced. 

While their argument Louise had continued to squirm and trying to reach the knot to loosen it. The moment she finally managed she whispered an excited "Yes!" and then turned to Rudy again: "Listen, you act like you need your inhaler and when one of Tina’s goons comes over we stand up and give him a knock-over. I’ll then take care of Tina and you stop the machine."

"Okay!" Rudy wheezed, sounding like he actually did need his inhaler which made it so much easier to act according to their plan.

"Hey guys!" Louise shouted. "Rudy needs his inhaler!"

"T minus 3 minutes!"

"Uh oh! Just a sec!" Immediately Zeke walked back to the kids. "Where you got it, little guy?"

As soon as he was beside them Louise shouted once more: "Rudy! Now!"

They both jumped up and knocked Zeke over who fell with a surprised shout. Immediately Jimmy Jr. shouted "Zeke!" in worry for his best friend and ran over to him.

Many things happened simultaneously then.

The two Why Files Agents raced towards their destinations. Rudy reached Derryl beside the laptop, for a second he stopped to take a whiff of his inhaler to then try to sound as intimidating and tough as possible: "Stop the countdown! I don‘t want to become violent!" To underline his words Rudy aimed a rubber-band at the other nerd.

That one reacted with raising his hands to cover his face: "Uhhh! Don‘t hit me!"

Meanwhile Louise straight up ran to her big sister who seemed surprised by what was happening: "Tina!!!"

Tina used the seconds to glance around. Her 'muscles' were on the other side of the room, Rudy was threatening Derryl which was in itself an interesting concept. Henry was ignoring the unfolding chaos and just concentrated on the machine. So, when the oldest Belcher sibling turned back to her sister, it was just in time to be barreled over by her and then to be slapped with full force.

"Ouch."

"Tina! Stop this!" Louise grabbed Tina's face to shout at it more efficiently.

"I can‘t."

"But why? Tina you are the author! You are already in control of everything. This is your story! This Jimmy Jr. will already do everything you say! And not only him! The other three too! And I’m sure you can imagine everyone else too! If you wanted them to, then Boys For Now will start a concert right here, right now in your evil lair! What more do you want!?" 

"To make this story logical within itself!" There was a frown on Tina's face. 

"Too late for that, wouldn‘t you say? You broke the fourth wall way too often already!" 

That moment the building started to shake and a bit of dust trickled from the ceiling. A high pitched whirring came from the machine as it connected to other dimensions.

"There might have been a miscalculation!" Now Henry sounded worried. "It seems like the anchor is still the school."

This was the wake up call Tina needed: "Stop the machine!!"

"It fear it's too late for that now…"

With the force of a sledgehammer Tina felt the guilt building up in herself. 

"Wait! What was that?!" 

Louise looked around bewildered, still sitting on top of Tina, who seemed equally weird out.

"That sounded like me… but it wasn’t me?"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" 

With open fear Louise jumped off of her big sister. Continuing to try to find the source of the voice. This narration was freaking her out. Tina scrambled up too, trying her best to not fall over again while the building shook even harder. Not quite as obviously freaking out she turned to the group of people she hoped would be helpful in this situation.

"Henry! Derryl! Rudy! You are the nerds here! What is going on?!" 

Tina shouted but the rest seemed to be as confused as herself.  
The three boys all stood in front of the laptop and the machine trying to figure out what was going on, until Henry spoke up again:

"Maybe we are really breaking down the fourth wall?"

He seemed at least as confused as the rest while also kind of excited. Breaking this fourth wall would mean to not only opening into another version of the universe in which this story was written but to break into ALL universes that ever existed, fictional or not! 

"What the hell?! That was not the plan!"

No, the original universe should stay safe, that had been the one line Tina would have never wanted to cross. And she hadn't even said her family that she loved them this morning! She felt deep regret. Until the very end she had hoped that her little sister would stop her. But now it seemed like it was too late.

That moment the machine came to a whirring stop. The shaking of the building also calmed down and everything became eerily silent.

"Done!" Not sure what was going on everyone looked over to Zeke and Jimmy Jr. They had just plucked the cable. All of the present people sighed in relief. 

"Louise are you okay?" Now being aware of her role as big sister again Tina turned to her sibling, giving her a once over.

"Yeah, I’m fine… and I was totally not scared," that moment she realised something. "RUDY! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"I’m fine…," he walked towards the two girls, Darryl following.

"Well, that was a waste of time."

"Not really…," Henry had also stepped up to the group but continued to glance towards the machine. 

To keep things going Mr. Frond violently opened the door to the lair/ steam room: "What is going on here?! Detention all of you!"

"Mr. Frond! All of this was all my fault and I am the only one who should get detention," Tina stepped up with a stern look towards the guidance counsler.

"But you are the mastermind and author… how can you get yourself caught?" Mr. Frond used his condescending tone and it was obvious that he seemed to think that Tina had gone coo coo too. "Well, I don’t care. Then only you get detention, Tina. But all of you clean this up!" 

With that the school employee left again and Tina sighed in relief and everyone started to deinstall the machine.

Henry deleted all the files from the Laptop, so no one would ever try to open the door to other dimensions again. But there was a slight smirk while he did so: "Well, I guess we will get to do more than enough of this evil science when we work for the government."

That caused everyone to look up at him with a frown until Louise remarked with a very serious tone: "I’ll stop you then too." 

He just nodded. 

—

Later Louise and Rudy were sitting on the swings looking back to the slide, feeling the exhaustion of the day creeping up on them. 

"That was exciting."

"We almost died Rudy! AGAIN! Ugh!" Louise kicked herself off the ground and gained height very fast.

Her friend kept watching her: "But we didn‘t. It‘s called almost die-living."

On the highest point Louise let go of the swing and landed a bit away on her feet. Then she turned and strode back to her partner, poking him painfully in his chest: "Don‘t you dare use my words against me! No more almost-die-living for you, buddy. Not as long as we‘re partners."

"So, you‘ll keep me as a partner?"

Louise shrugged nonchalantly: "Sure. You‘re useful. Kinda."

"Nice!" he whispered but then continued louder:"You know what the playground reminds me of?"

"That never happened in this universe! Tina does not know about it, so she can‘t write about it!"

"Wha..? No. What? No. What?"

"Nothing. What were you talking about?"

"It reminds me about how simple school was before The Why Files. Before knowing that there is more out there."

"Ah yes," he was right about that. "But we have to keep digging to find the truth."

It was fun to sound so dramatic…

"I guess."

… an artform Rudy would learn sooner or later too.

"Let‘s get home. See you tomorrow, partner!"

**The (absolute real) End**

.  
.  
.

.  
.  
.

**This is not the super secret ending, do not read!**

Louise and Rudy worked a lot more cases together until finally one day they kissed and Louise slapped Rudy and they lived happily ever after.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (12.03.2021)I am such an idiot XD I wrote
>
>> "Actually, I help her for science? Opening a portal to another dimension is good for the curriculum vitae," Henry looked up from the laptop he had been typing into.
> 
> long before the "big reveal"! I changed that now.  
> I missed that like ten times and only now, coming back to it I realised my mistake. That is what I get for writing some sections before I know where I put them in the story. Eff me! But since almost no one read the story it does not really matter lol. 


	3. The end-end of the fanfiction also called epilogue!

"Ugh. Sick! I‘m gonna slap Tina!" The snarl was evident on Louise's face. She would have to slap her sister and threaten her to never show this to anyone. Ever!

Just on queue Tina walked in her room where she was greeted with the threatend slap.

"Ouch."

"Tina! What the hell?! Why did you add romance?!"

The older sibling rubbed her stinging cheek while thinking about it: "Because it makes sense."

"No it doesn‘t! That will never happen again!"

"What?" Tina sounded honestly confused about that remark.

"Shut up, Tina! At least it didn‘t really happen in the main part of the story."

Tina walked up to her desk while Louise sat on the bed. The anger still visible but she did not threaten violence anymore: "Don‘t use me as a character when I will be romanced! I don‘t want that. Especially not with my real friends. It‘s creepy. You can never show it to anyone."

"Okay and I won‘t. But maybe Gene, Mom and Dad will read it," Tina sat down on the chair but turned to her little sister who continued to glare.

"They are fine. But no one else!"

"Okay."

Tina turned again and let her finger brush over the notebook. She hadn‘t intended for Louise to read part three and especially not to see the secret ending. But Tina had liked it. It was a good story and a good ending. She also needed a better place to hide her stuff. Again. 

"Tina?" Louise piped up again. The older girl just nodded, indicating she was listening. " You said it was about Aliens, now it‘s Dimensional travel?"

"That is called a Red Herring," Tina answered. "It‘s supposed to bring the character or reader on the wrong path."

"That is clever. A wrong track. Worked for me. Both me. How do you know that?"

"I looked it up while doing research for school."

"Okay next question," Louise sat up a bit straighter and Tina tured back to her again, surprised by the sudden interest. "Why egg salad sandwiches?"

"I was hungry when I wrote the first chapter…"

"Oh!"

"… but also because they have a lot of energy. And many kids have them for lunch."

"That is true, but nobody likes egg salad! You even let Rudy say so in the beginning of the story."

"Dad's egg salad is good."

"But he hates them too!" Louise sounded confused.

"I like it."

"Still a bold choice! As well as adding more Characters." Louise took a moment to think about it before she fired her next question. "What about the symbol and the goop? You never explained that!"

Tina shrugged. She really had no idea. "Some metal piece that gets heated up and burns the sandwich like in a toaster. And the goop is just there."

"But why?!"

"Why not? Goop dimension?"

"Ugh! Tina! You need to explain this kind of stuff!"

"Oh… okay…," she felt a bit defeated. Tina had really thought that her story was good. It was round... well more of an oval… but even if some small details were not 100% explained… 

"But… it‘s a good story overall, T," Lousie sighed.

"Thank you!" Now that was the feedback Tina had hoped for. 

"But you know, what was the most weird thing about it?" suddenly Louise's tone changed. She sounded like deep in thought, like trying to solve a riddle.

Tina shook her head: "No, what?"

“It didn‘t really…,” Louise tried to figure out how to continue, how to put in words what bothered her about the last part of the story. “... it didn’t really read like it was from you… like… like someone else wrote it for you? ”

“Huh…,” Tinas furrowed her eyebrows. "But I did write it?”

“I know… but still… if feels… off… and like there were infos in the story you couldn't know about…”

“That… is… weird…”

Just for a moment the girls felt something similar to dread, like someone was constantly around, watching, controlling them, a power bigger than them… but that moment only lasted until Gene stepped in, wearing nothing but his underpants and a bowtie, and playing a loud fart noise on his casio.  
With his usual dramatics he announced that their table was ready and to puh-leaze follow him, underlined by a simple song played in farts. 

The three Belcher kids walked in the kitchen, where their father told Gene to put on clothes, and forgot about fictional adventures that never really happened to them anyway. 

**The end-end-end**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! If you came till here, thank you a lot for reading. This was in the making for… what? two years?  
> I was in a dump about how to end this story, mind you why it’s so all over the place and also I had no idea how to end it even though the scene on the playground was written quite early.  
> But I had no idea how exactly the machine would be stopped. 
> 
> And then I had this idea (while listening to the story) that maybe they screwed up enough to actually break the fourth wall, maybe I could make the voice narrating from the off audible to the characters? Oh awesome idea! And while I wrote I realised that oops… the neverending story does exist (I was so afraid of the movie as a child). Well… shit… but anyway let’s do this!  
> So yeah. How many layers of story is that? Three?
> 
> Anyway I hope you had fun reading as much as I had fun writing. The writing is probably a weird mix of what I think how Tina would write and how I write, so sorry about that but didn’t I put a nice little spin in the end to create a solution for that? I sure hope so...  
> I think that is the fourth layer? 
> 
> What else? I think there should be more Tina & Henry fic? I think their dynamic is really interesting and they are both into storytelling? Tina with her friend fiction and Henry with his long running graphic novel? Also the fact that she can debate him equally? I think that is really fascinating. They should be better friends. 
> 
> But cards on the table, I ship Tina/Zeke and it’s ridiculous how many hints there are in the most recent seasons. 
> 
> Also Louise/Rudy all the way (I recently had the thought that Edith and Harold are those two in old and a lot more cranky but it doesn’t really checks out).
> 
> Last but not least: Sorry Gene, next time you’ll probably get a bigger role. That being said we’ll see if I ever write for this fandom again (me@myself: but then why writing like you intend another part?; me@myself: shut up!) Until then I try to finish my other wips… lol.
> 
> Stay safe! Stay healthy!


End file.
